Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘UK’

A home: feels like a whirlwind

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

We’ve been home exactly one week.

I was telling Matthew that I haven’t found my groove yet. I’m currently grooveless.

Last post was from London. I don’t think I’ve ever walked so much in my life. Even using the tube and so on, there’s always a walk and those steps add up. This was a good thing because it helped with the weight gain. Lot’s of nice but expensive food to be had in London.

We also discovered the river bus (ferry), expensive but so much better than being crammed into a tube train. And there was coffee.

Biggest takeaway was how to ordinary people live-it’s so expensive. And why are there so many obviously wealthy people.

After two weeks in London we went to Malta for about five days. Why Malta? It was on a list of the possibles (Spain, Ireland, Italy) but what it had in it’s favour was one flight direct, warmer and dryer than the UK, cheapish flight and lots of accommodation to choose from. We loved Malta. We stayed in Sliema, with views of the beach (St Julian’s Bay I think) and we did tours as you do. Not quite warm enough for a swim for me. We even took a day trip to Sicily, which was awesome. It’s only 52 Nautical miles from Malta. Next time, more Sicily and Malta. Also, did my fan girl, Montalbano, visit to his police station. I didn’t pay to go in, just took photos.

Next stop was one night in London and the Hilton Heathrow Terminal 4 and then Singapore. We stayed with my son and his wife and my grandson in their apartment. We ate crab! Thanks Taamo! and did the Night Safari and the Amazon experience. Again more walking. We also did the Gardens by the Bay, which was lovely but Singapore is humid and hot. We caught up with some writing friends, Dev and Joyce and ate lots of yummy food and swam in the condo pool, well I walked in the pool, which was lovely and huge.

Sadly, all good things come to an end. We came home. For a few weeks we had started thinking about home, what we wanted to do, changes in our habits we wanted to make and thinking about our lovely granddaughter who started school while we were away. Nothing hurts more than those heart strings and she sent us messages that made us almost weep.

I started work on Monday (Day job) and today was meant to be a writing day. Alas, dr appointment, tradie, pool walking, Genius appointment because my phone is chucking a wobbly, and then meeting friends tonight, I can’t see where I’m going to slot even a solid hour in.

I am doing a novel crit group thing so I have at least finished this month’s novel and just need to write up my feedback. I guess that’s what I’ll be doing today because that’s not hard.

Jetlag I’ve been okay. I think the stop over in Singapore helped me adjust to Australia again, although I do zone out and get fatigued.

Weight I’ve lost 2.5 kilos since I’ve been back. Most of that would be fluid retention from the flight. But I found this neat and free calorie food diary thing and that’s helping me keep track.

I’ve also am trying a new self mantra. Instead of looking in the mirror and criticising myself, I’m going to say “Hey gorgeous. You look fantastic. You’re awesome.” I’ve read about two celebrities that I really admire and both have talked about how they have hated their bodies (Winslet and Thompson) and how every woman is unhappy with her body. I think this is mostly the body norms that are thrust at us constantly. For years I’ve had body dismorphia and I’ve hated how I looked. Now I’m going to accept it. That doesn’t mean I’m letting myself go. I get sick if I put on too much weight so I’ll keep my goals but I’m going to stop the negative self talk. Try to at least. Not easy.

Next post I’ll put up some photos. I’m currently backing up the phone so can’t right now.

Read Full Post »

Travelling with too much to post

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on January 30, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Since Lincoln we have moved around a lot. We went to Newcastle upon Tyne, staying mostly out at South Shields. We loved this place. My Hanson grandfather was born in South Shields and it was lovely to get a feel for the place, where his father and his grandfather live. I went searching for the houses where they lived. Alas, the Long Row had been demolished and the Long Row now is only part of the original with new buildings, but they lived in these tenements along the river. They were seaman, steveadores etc so lived close by. I went looking for two other addresses. Catherine Street I found was now a library and the other place still existed but the house they lived it appeared on Apple Maps in someone’s backyard so no longer existing. We went looking for St Hilda’s cemetery and it is now a car park. I sort of gave up after that. I was going to go and look where my nana was born in Washington but her street didn’t exist and it was a suburb’s name now. Besides it snowed that day. We did one day in Newcastle and did my Vera thing, including Whitley Bay and the Holy Island on our way to Scotland.

In Edinburgh I caught up with a second cousin on my mum’s side. He and his wife were very interesting people. One of the things they do is medieval music. Fascinating.

We stayed in a lovely hotel, Holyrood with views to Arthur’s seat and very handy to the High street etc. They were so lovely. We left something behind and they posted it to us, charging us only for postage. Food was good, room was large and warm. We did a day trip to Perth to visit Farah and Edward and had a lovely lunch, talked about books etc before heading out to walk through the town/city. It’s quite big Perth. It was also quite cold with barely getting to the high of 1 degree C.

It was time to turn south and we stopped in Lancaster for the evening, meeting up with Patrick and Julie for dinner. Lancaster is a place we’d like to come back to as it seemed interesting but we couldn’t really look around as we were headed south.

In Knebsworth we stayed with my cousin and had a fab time. She took us to Windsor for the day and spoiled us rotten. Now we are in Maidstone in Kent also being spoiled, but today is chill day so I can blog.

It’s kind of sad as I have lots of photos but here are a few.

Windsor castle

Windsor Moat

Matthew in front of St George’s chapel, Windsor Castle.

A snap taken in the Undercroft Cafe with my cousin, whose treat it was for us.

The castle ruins in Rochester, Kent. We went for a day to check it out.

Medway River at Maidstone, we did a long historical walk around the town.

A Tudor style house in Maidstone. Then we went to lunch at La Villetta, enjoyed some great food and company.

We went to Aylesford to visit to Friars again and it was misty and moody and very serene. We enjoyed it so much.

The peace walk lookiing back to the gatehouse at the Friars. Note, to Ruby Heart/Emerald Fire fans, this is the priory I used in the book. It was a great setting for a secret society of magicians.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more photos. We head to London for two weeks on Thursday. The sand in our hour glass is running down. Although we are going to Malta and Singapore before we see our cats and family again.

Read Full Post »

In the North and Winter is here

Posted in A writer's life, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on January 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

We’ve moved on from Nottingham and spent a lovely week in a village just outside Lincoln. Nettleham was so lovely. Lots of quaint stone houses, a beck and great, great company. We loved it.

This photo is Matthew on one of the little bridges over the beck. The whole village was wonderful.

The picture above is Lincoln cathedral. We really liked this and the city of Lincoln was an unexpected pleasure.

The remains of the city wall.

Now we have moved onto South Shields, where my paternal grandfather was born. My paternal grandmother was born nearby in Durham. These next few days we will explore. Today we walk into South Shields and maybe find the house where it began about 200 years ago. There are even some relatives nearby. Not sure I’ll meet them. The people are very friendly.

On BailWe did a big walk today down to Long Row but the house wasn’t the house but a 25 year old one. Later research revealed the Long Row had been subsumed into a wharf/ship building thing and the existing Long Row is just on the end of it. Also, Thrift Street was subsumed too and there was another relative there. We walked to St Hilda’s church hoping to find a cemetery but no graves were there. We walked to the churchyard and it was a car park (apparently the bodies were exhumed and it closed in 1855) and then went to another address but that was weird and I don’t think that house exists either. Then when we got back I did some research and the other place I wanted to find in Catherine Street is now a library. I should write a story about an unquiet carpark. Look, my relatives were poor so their houses don’t exist anymore. I was kind of sad. I haven’t give up hope of finding a grave but we will see.

This is a view of the Long Row but it is a newish construction and only part of the original, the original long row being absorbed into the dock expansion. It did give me an idea of how close they lived to the docks where by GGG grandfather was a stevedore in 1894. There is some historical photos which I’ll buy of these streets that don’t exist now.

A bit of trivia. My great grandfather was Alexander Hanson, but he was born after the other Alexander Hanson, his brother died at 15 months. Alexander is one of those repeating names because Elizabeth Erichsen and John Hanson who married in 1834 both had fathers named Alexander.

The above is the local church I believe my ancestors went to. As discussed, no cemetary.

Also, snow was predicted and we got a short film of it. I think it then turned to sleet but excitement.

A view of Littlehaven beach where we are staying. That’s the head of the River Tyne.

I’m tacking on the trip to Newcastle yesterday. It’s an amazing place. Too short a time to explore and we walked so much. I did my Vera homage, and we went to the castle, the cathedral, the Milenium Bridge and did a M&C cafe lunch.

We walked up the Longstairs on our way back from the bridge.

Read Full Post »

Currently in Nottingham

Posted in A writer's life, Climate, Travel, UK, United Kingdom, Warhammer, weather, tagged , , , , , on January 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »

There’s been a lot of rain hereabouts. Storm Gerrick while we were in Brighton and Storm Henk while we are in the north. The River Trent is in flood, but hopefully it has dropped from its peak last evening.

We are having a quiet, relaxing time with a few trips out. Matthew’s lovely cousins gave us the use of a room at the top of the house with an ensuite and we are cosy and warm. We sleep a lot but as I might have mentioned it is very dark here in the UK in Winter. Two hours less sunlight than Winter in Canberra. I did a bit of research. The flip side of that is that there is two hours more sunlight in summer in the UK than at home. I am very sunlight dependent I find. At home I’m awake with the dawn.

If we have something on I’m fine with being awake when it is dark, otherwise at 4pm I feel like it’s the middle of the night and I have this instinct to go hibernate. Weird. I can understand why some people get SAD in Winter.

So far we went to the Broadway cinema and watched a Filipino film called Raging Grace. It was a great film screened in a lounge with an eclectic mix of chairs. We had dinner in the cafe first. Then last night we had dinner with Marc at The Botanist restaurant a short walk from where we are staying. It was great to catch up after so many years. I saw Marc in 2019 but Matthew has not travelled since 2014 I think. It is hard when you really enjoy spending time with someone but you live so far apart. Anyway, we ate, we talked and were chucked out of the restaurant as it closed at ten. Hahahaha. We could have gone to the bar but it was late by then.

Yesterday we went for a walk. First to grab some brunch/lunch and then cousin Bob suggested we walk along the embankment next to the river which was in flood. We did do that walk but kept on going until we walked to Warhammmer World. We had a look around and a drink in Bugman’s Bar. I think we are heading there again today. We caught an Uber back though as it was more than 10,000 steps.

Otherwise today I’m not sure what we have planned. Maybe dinner in the pub across the road. As we were travelling in Winter we hadn’t really planned to do touristy stuff. We planned on hanging out getting to know our family and friends more and maybe write and walk etc. This is what we are doing so all good.

We hadn’t planned too much ahead but now I’ve booked some accommodation in South Shields, Newcastle on Tyne, within walking distance of the great, great, great grandfather’s house and other things so that’s kind of cool. Then we head to Edinburgh for a few days, a day in Lancaster to meet up with friends as we break our journey back to Hertfordshire.

Trent River in flood
A quick view of how fast the river is flowing.

Read Full Post »

Travelling in Winter

Posted in Travel, UK, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The things you do for your art. Matthew and I wanted, among other things, to experience a Northern Winter in the UK. Add visiting family into the mix and here we are.

My first week was plagued by sickness. I do not recommend. Not Covid. Much worse than my bout of Covid in October. I had a painful fever for three days. I had to isolate and also stressed about getting well enough to eat Christmas dinner, the whole reason we had come to this particular place and our particular cousin host. No runny nose per se, terrible chest and stomach ache. I still have a cough. However, while I was lying about on Christmas morning contemplating going to the A&E about my gut, I thought I’d try one more thing. I had two mugs of hot chicken stock. That helped. Not a cure but I could be normal. I don’t think my appetite is quite back to normal but that’s probably a good thing.

Being sick also induced homesickness in both of us. Matthew because he was worried about me being sick (separate rooms) and we had hired an EV car and couldn’t get the blasted thing charged. Many of the apps required our app store to be set in the UK. We tried doing that but the app store would not accept our Australian credit cards. Stupid, stupid system. I was lying in bed feverish and fretting. I made up my mind we should just take it back and swap for a hybrid. However, at long last Matthew found a place and was able to charge. Once on the motorways it was even easier as there are plenty of charges that just take credit card. No need for apps.

It was very windy and drizzly in Saltdean (near Brighton). We did a walk in the fields where I had walked in the summer of 2019. Totally different with the fields empty and rolling mist coming in from the sea. Lucky I had a down overcoat from Macpac. My daughter urged me to get one and I went the day before we left and there was a sale and I got a great deal. The magic is the squash into the hood so takes up very little room in the luggage.

There was a break in the storm and we went out to the seafront this time. What surprised me was how many people were out and about. It was Boxing Day so I figure public holiday and people had been holed up with their pups and kids. Also, a drop in the wind had made so much difference. The next day the wind was back and we went for a walk along Telscombe Tye (the common on the rise). There we were nearly blown off the face of the earth and the sea was raging. Those lovely seawalks that people were on the day before were crushed by huge waves that slapped and grabbed at the white chalk cliffs. Inexplicably my phone camera would not take shots. My iphone 13 has been a bit dodgy recently. Matthew took some photos thankfully.

On the way back to our cousins we stopped for a coffee at a little cafe called Daisy’s and shared a sticky bun, sort of looked like a Belgian Bun, but not quite.

Our plans for New Year had to change due to a friend’s illness. We had a bit of a brainstorm about what to do. I think New Year can be a hard time to invite yourself to someone’s house on short notice so we ended up in York for New Years. We upscaled to DoubleTree by Hilton and it’s nice, just by the walls and an easy walk into the old part of town. We can either join the fun in town or stay in at the bar on the day.

Last night we went for a walk after we arrived. There were so many people out, going to restaurants and bars and just walking. I knew it was like this in summer as we stayed in the city in 2019 but was surprised that even in the cold and rain people came in numbers. We ended up at a York roast place after walking around for a bit. When the rain set in we went back to the hotel and sat in the warm while Matthew sipped a Bulgarian red.

Compared to Brighton there is half an hour less sunlight than Brighton. I guess they make up for it in summer with more time. However, for me personally the lack of sunlight is such a challenge. I don’t feel fully awake until the sun is up and even when it is up it’s a pallid thing leaking through streaks of cloud. In the afternoon it starts to get dark at 3.30pm and it’s totally dark by 4pm. I feel like it’s very late at night when it’s barely 5 o’clock. We are still taking naps and I have to set alarms to get us out to eat otherwise I fear we’ll just keep sleeping.

I’m on hotel wifi so I’m not sure if any photos will load. Yay!

This is Saltdean Beach as discussed.

Above is the cliff walk, which the next day had pounding waves.

Our cousin fed us the most amazing food. We had this venison roast on Boxing day.

Now this is what I call a bank of chargers. There was also a bank of Tesla charges.At times people had to wait for a spot.

Us driving up to Monk Bar where our hotel is.

This is the first time I’ve switched on my computer so far. This of course translates to no writing. I’ve been sick so I have an excuse. However, hence forth, not much of one. We are about to head off to find some breakfast. Talk again.

Read Full Post »

Highlights from the UK and Ireland Trip Part 3

Posted in Travel, UK, tagged , , , , , , , on November 16, 2019| Leave a Comment »

I’m sorry it’s taken a bit to get this third post together, but life!

We spent about four days in London, mostly so we could go to the Harry Potter Experience, which was very fab. At the beginning of the tour they asked the audience if anyone had been before. One woman said she had been 53 times. Wow! The cost alone must run into thousands of pounds. The exhibition was fantastic, which lots of displays from the talented people who made the costumes, sets, prosthetics and make up.

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_7098

IMG_7120IMG_7119 2IMG_7113 2IMG_7099

The Gringotts bank set was amazing. I took lots of photos and video of it. We had a nice lunch there and drooled over the merchandise. I’d totally do it again, but not 53 times.

IMG_7145 2

We had an accommodation issue in London which soured our experience somewhat, and then we headed off to Ireland. I was there for three weeks, including Dublin Worldcon and a workshop with David Farland. So I went between Donegal and Dublin a little bit.

Warning: there are images of a bog body here, that is a corpse that is thousands of years old so look away if that does not appeal. We stayed in Westminster so these are a few along the river. We wished we could fossick on the shores of the Thames but you need license now.

Then we did a tour of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace, which included a Queen Victoria exhibition. Unfortunately no photos but we did get some of the grounds and the back part of the palace that you don’t see from the street. I love the lake in Buckingham Palace, not that we got to walk around but it was visible on the exit path.

IMG_7316

IMG_7312

 

IMG_7309

Then we went to the British Museum. I’ve been a few times and it is so big I’ve not see all of it.We were focussed on early Britain this visit. It was incredibly busy and the food was so expensive.  The following shots are of the bog body. I saw more of them in Ireland (in a museum, not the wild).

IMG_7237IMG_7233IMG_7230

These are some roman hoard. The quality of manufacture was amazing. And the  head, early Christian I believe.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I am going to keep Ireland for the next post. Sorry, I’m out of time.

Read Full Post »

A bit of a travel blog

Posted in France, Ireland, Travel, UK, United Kingdom, tagged , , , , , , on July 29, 2019| Leave a Comment »

IMG_6675

Marina at Newhaven

I’ve been away from home now for nearly six weeks and on Monday we transition to the next phase of our trip. We head to London for four days and then to Ireland. This last week when we have been staying near Brighton we have had some adventures as well as taking it easy. I’ve learned not to wear white. I’m a stain magnet. Lesson number two is don’t wear flip flops with white trousers in the rain. I had black spots right up to my backside.

We took an impromptu trip to Dieppe, in Normandy in France via ferry from Newhaven. The pier is quite handy to Brighton and after watching the ferry depart from the pub (The Hope Inn) we were quite intrigued.

IMG_6679

We sailed past The Hope Inn where we sat to watch the ferry depart a day or two before

It was so easy to do. It was 20 GDP to go return and we stayed one night so there was a hotel cost as well. The trip over the English Channel was like a mill pond on the way back it was a bit choppier but very smooth sailing. We went on The Seven Sisters. When we got to the pier the computer system was out and the staff were getting the cars and trucks on manually and they couldn’t issue tickets for those not previously booked. We were able to check in as we were in the system. The ferry was a little late departing but not too long. They let us foot passengers on first. We took a bus down to the ferry. With a baby in tow we had to get a lift to our deck but all good. It was pretty busy on the ferry with school holidays starting and the kids play area was a scream fest. We settled ourselves in the chairs near the cafeteria, which was fine. The food was quite good and time went smoothly.

IMG_6688

Lighthouse close up

 

IMG_6691 - Copy

Leaving Newhaven

I took some great photos as we were leaving and the open deck proved a good place to get Mabel to sleep, if we stayed out of the wind. In no time at all we were disembarking. We went through French customs, no problem and the terminal staff called a cab for us, who in turn took us to a cash machine so we could pay him and then to our hotel, the Hotel de l’europe

The hotel was right on the beach.  As a three star we weren’t expecting a lot but the room was spacious and the bathroom huge. They set up a cot for Mabel very quickly and she had so much fun crawling around the floor. The view from our room was divine.

IMG_6724

View from the hotel

We got a bit of a shock when we looked out of the window to the right and saw the ferry. We were a stone’s throw from the port. Unfortunately as there is a harbour we had to go around and over two bridges. It was possible to walk but it took 35 minutes. We went walking about as we still had the afternoon and the late summer light to guide our way. We walked into the old town and saw so many lovely boutiques with great dresses and also baby clothes and then we walked up the hill to the old castle, Chateau de Dieppe, which is a maritime museum. As we went on Tuesday the museum was closed. Apparently all museums in France close on Tuesdays but we didn’t mind that for the view over Dieppe was fantastic and the outside of the castle was fun to photograph.

IMG_6745

 

IMG_6744

Wide shot of Dieppe from the castle

I have zero French and my daughter is marginally better. Baby Mabel did better communicating than we did as she just smiled and laughed and flirted with everyone. We went looking for a meal and picked a place at random on the Quai. It was okay. It was French but not the restaurant I was looking for. I tried booking through Tripadvisor but that wouldn’t work. There were so many restaurants to choose from it was hard. We met an Irishman at the restaurant who is from Donegal, where we are heading on Friday. It’s a small world.

IMG_6729

View of old town up to the market square

I enjoyed the ferry trip immensely. The trip home was less crowded so we had lots of room and the staff are very good and helpful too. I did drink the worst coffee on the planet on the boat but the tea was fine. I recommend it. Customs on the British side was a bit tougher, being Australian. Mabel’s last name is different to ours so we were quizzed about our relationship and provided her birth certificate. No problems though.

I really want to take the ferry from Ireland back to the UK after Worldcon and Eurocon but I didn’t know about rail/sail tickets before we booked our flights. There is a Dublin to Wales option and a Belfast to Liverpool option and a Belfast to Scotland option. Rail/sail tickets allow you to book a train say from Brighton to Dublin and for under 50 GDP. That’s a pretty good deal. And I couldn’t resist, I’m now doing the rail/sail from Belfast, down to Dublin, across to Wales and then London and Brighton for 56 pounds or $107 AU. A bit of a safari but all good. No refund on my flights but shrug.

IMG_6781

Dieppe port

 

Read Full Post »

A quickie post

Posted in Book launch, Dark fantasy, Digital Publishing, Dragon, Dragon fantasy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »

I’m still settling in after the jetlag. Still in transition from being on holiday in lovely historic Britain to being at home again in Dweebenhiem in Canberra.

Here is a shot of Dweebenhiem with peach blossoms! I hadn’t seen those before as we saw the house in late Spring before we bought it.

Dweebenhiem in Spring

Dweebenhiem in Spring

Yesterday it was a fab Sunday roast with friends and some family. I even did stuffing to go with the pork. I’m still trying to hang onto the threads of my trip.

Last night I had the grandchildren over. They’ve just left actually and peace has descended. Tomorrow I go back to work. Mind you I’m not sure how I’m going to get there as Action Buses took my express bus away. No more 788 or 785. I’ll just have to transition to the more convenient but expensive car and leave the inconvenient but cheap public transport along. Mind you before the bus timetable was imposed it was convenient and cheap. Thank you ACT Government! Not!

As I’ll be back at work I won’t be able to do much promotion and writing time will be these treasured moments when time, inspiration and energy levels combine. I’m entering a busy reporting stage of my project that should keep me stressed out until Christmas and maybe beyond. Then again maybe it won’t be that way.

As I may not have books for my launch on Saturday 12.30 at Conflux SF Convention, I’m getting these postcards printed. Provided they make it in time. They will have a discount code for the ebook, which will be fab.I’ll also be on a couple of panels at the convention.

. Along with the fabulous launch speaker Cat Sparks and awesome MC Nicole Murphy. The wonderful Matthew Farrer will be doing the book selling (or preorders).  So for the launch reading there will be just me, raw, everyday me. I was going to say naked me, but not your your life! I’ll be wearing my special launch shoes. I haven’t thought about a dress yet. And I may not do a reading but I’ll need to work that out pretty soon won’t I? I mean there will be people and everything like that.

So the postcard!

Dragon Wine Series Book 1 and 2

Dragon Wine Series Book 1 and 2

Then the special launch shoes! (this is my excuse for buying a third pair of shoes in that store on that day in Maidstone, Kent).

Launch Shoes

Launch Shoes

Everyone needs special shoes on a special day. Now I just have to find something to wear.

Wish me luck. I may have real life print books sometime soon. But the ebook is awesome. Did I mention it had maps? I’ll do another post on the Donna and the map drama later. Why waste a good blog topic? Also, I’m still working on the Four writers on a canal boat for a week post. It’s complicated.

Read Full Post »